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MUMBAI:
Ten Sports has renewed its broadcast partnership with the
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and acquired the cricket
rights for the next five years.
Ten Sports will broadcast 184 days of live international cricket
action from the West Indies, including 25 Test matches, 50
one-day games and nine 20-20 games, between 2008 and 2012.
This covers the upcoming 2008 tour by Australia to the West
Indies, which was part of a previous agreement between the
parties.
In
the new agreement, the tours included are visits by India
in 2009 and 2012, by Pakistan in 2011, England's tour to the
West Indies in 2009, Australia's tour in 2012 and South Africa's
tour in 2010.
Ten
Sports will show the events on their channels in India, the
Middle East and Southeast Asia, and will distribute the events
worldwide with the exception of the UK and the Ireland, where
Sky Sports has the rights, and in the Caribbean.
WICB
president Dr Julian R Hunte said, "This deal with Ten
Sports will give us the financial resources we need to support
our strategic plan, the main goal of which is that West Indies
cricket will regain its place at the pinnacle of world cricket
by 2012. The platform on which we will build the future is
cricket development at all levels and in all the countries
of the Caribbean."
Added
Ten Sports CEO Chris McDonald, "We have been broadcasting
the excitement, style and panache of cricket from the West
Indies throughout Asia since 2003, and will now work with
the WICB on a global basis."
WICB
CEO Dr Donald Peters, who was directly involved in the negotiations
with Ten Sports and other bidders, said, "We, at the
WICB, are elated at having a major outlet for our brand of
cricket in the huge markets in the Middle East and the Indian
subcontinent. This opens up more lucrative opportunities for
our players and for our cricket in general."
Ten
Sports currently holds the Middle East and Asian broadcast
rights to five of the ten ICC full-member boards, and is involved
in the worldwide distribution of rights from Sri Lanka, Pakistan
and the West Indies.
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